Gas pain relief

Published: Monday, March 4, 2013 at 08:00 AM.

Gas prices are flirting with $4 for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel. In some parts of the nation, prices are already above that mark. This potentially is a serious blow to an economy that already is teetering on the brink of another recession.

President Obama has demonstrated little concern. He seems to be hoping the problem will go away.

As prices began creeping up weeks ago, the U.S. State Department let it be known that it would take months more for a decision on the expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline would deliver hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil, per day, from friendly trading neighbor Canada. That’s a lot of oil — oil that could help relieve dependence on unfriendly or unstable trading partners such as Venezuela or Libya. Further, increased supply of oil helps lower global prices — not just at your pump, but in pumps across the world.

What happens when energy prices rise? The economy tends to stall. Energy is at the heart of economic activity. People need oil for transportation, shipping and air travel.

At $4 per gallon — or about $90 per barrel of oil — people are likely to postpone trips and vacations.

To afford gasoline to get to work and school, households may have to cut back on purchases of food or clothes. Recreational budgets will be cut. Higher gasoline prices also pinch government budgets. School districts suffer because they have to pay more for fuel for buses. The military also suffers, as fuel prices could mean less training with motorized vehicles.

The Keystone XL pipeline not only promises to deliver oil — it also provides one of the best examples of large-scale shovel-ready jobs in the nation. That’s why unions support it, although some of their cohorts in the Democratic Party — environmentalists — fiercely oppose it.

Gas prices are flirting with $4 for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel. In some parts of the nation, prices are already above that mark. This potentially is a serious blow to an economy that already is teetering on the brink of another recession.

President Obama has demonstrated little concern. He seems to be hoping the problem will go away.

As prices began creeping up weeks ago, the U.S. State Department let it be known that it would take months more for a decision on the expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline would deliver hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil, per day, from friendly trading neighbor Canada.
That’s a lot of oil — oil that could help relieve dependence on unfriendly or unstable trading partners such as Venezuela or Libya. Further, increased supply of oil helps lower global prices — not just at your pump, but in pumps across the world.

What happens when energy prices rise? The economy tends to stall. Energy is at the heart of economic activity. People need oil for transportation, shipping and air travel.

At $4 per gallon — or about $90 per barrel of oil — people are likely to postpone trips and vacations.

To afford gasoline to get to work and school, households may have to cut back on purchases of food or clothes. Recreational budgets will be cut.
Higher gasoline prices also pinch government budgets. School districts suffer because they have to pay more for fuel for buses. The military also suffers, as fuel prices could mean less training with motorized vehicles.

The Keystone XL pipeline not only promises to deliver oil — it also provides one of the best examples of large-scale shovel-ready jobs in the nation. That’s why unions support it, although some of their cohorts in the Democratic Party — environmentalists — fiercely oppose it.

The pipeline will stretch from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. The project requires approval from the State Department because it crosses the U.S.-Canada border. The State Department delayed the decision well past the election, sparing Obama from having to take a position on it. The White House used concerns voiced by the governor of Nebraska, a Republican, as an excuse to delay approval of the pipeline. But Nebraska’s concerns have been resolved. Now it’s time to sign off on the pipeline. And it’s time for the White House and Congress to take a look at allowing more drilling on public lands.

While there has been a surge of drilling in North Dakota, much of it is on privately owned lands. In that state, which is experiencing an oil boom, permits can be had in days. On federal lands, it takes months. When the feds sit on oil that can be safely extracted, they’re helping to keep oil prices high.

High gasoline prices are weighing down the economy. The nation needs to keep developing fuel-efficient cars and green-energy alternatives, but a green utopia is a long way off. Until we get there, the government needs to open access to oil reserves and tap into Canada’s supply through the Keystone XL pipeline.